Cable Routing A65 OIF.

[A10 JWO]

My Thunderbolt is rewired, new cables all round. I have looked at many pretty photos of this model and wonder where all these cables are hiding. Behind the head-stock are many wires from the two handlebar switches, headlamp loom and main loom. Squeezed in there is a hooter, a choke and throttle cable, clutch cable and a breather pipe. Is there a definitive plan or has anyone got some decent photos of the section with the tank off. I have seen many variations of the front brake cable routing, the right way can only be the right way. Likewise speedo and rev-counter correct routing please. Appreciate the help.

[Servodyne]

I wouldn't say mine's the right way, but after much fine tuning over the years I'm fairly happy with it.

Keep the front brake cable well away from the front mudguard if you value your chrome. Have it tied using the one clip on the lower yoke. I've seen cables being clipped to the mudguard, but I think this adversely affects the sweeping run of the cable.

Speedo and tacho cables need to be tied centrally before being tied to the frame tube with a rubber tie. I've got the smaller headlight being a Firebird, so it may not be as easy a cable run from the clocks.

[Servodyne]

I've had some fun with the wiring harness over the years, but I've finally got it to a stage where when I wire up my next OIF project I'll follow the same route.

When I got the Firebird it have new repro Lucas harnesses fitting with cloth braiding. Within a short period of time the braid had scuffed the chrome on my rear mudguard. Shortly after that the braid 'rotted' through and literally fell off in places. Also, the harness coming out of the headlight into the rubber grommet behind the headstock was so thick and rigid it wore some of the paint off the frame and destroyed the rubber grommet.

Whilst the bike was on a layup waiting for SRM to do their thing on my crankshaft I decided to remove the harness to see if I could improve it. Basically the wiring and connectors were in good order, so I stripped off what braiding was left and replaced it with PVC tubing, sealed at both ends with shrink tube. I also simplified the wiring around the headstock/headlight. When you remove the cloth braiding you will find wires going from the frame to the headlight and back again just adding to the bulk of the cable. When I had stripped out the wires going back and forth and sheathed the harness with PVC tube it was vastly reduced in bulk and much more compliant with steering head movement. I decided to route the one harness from the headlight into one frame grommet and the two handlebar switch cables into the other. All other connections are either under the frame or in the headlight shell.
I also replaced the cables coming from the Lucas handlebar switches with 'repair' cables off ebay. I was able to tailor the lengths to fit the bike as the originals are either too long or too short.
As I said in my previous post, it may not be the right way but it works for me.
I hope that you find this of some help.
Jim

[A10 JWO]

Thanks Jim. Really appreciated. I have a new Lucas loom and have also used shrink wrap on some bits like the rear brake like switch cables, it makes things tidy.